FAQ

Acupuncture can often complement osteopathic treatments.

I believe they can provide value, so I may refer you to them when appropriate.

OMT is a physician-delivered, hands-on medical treatment that uses gentle pressure, stretching, and positioning to improve function and comfort. In infants, I focus on soft-tissue, balanced ligamentous, myofascial, and cranial techniques—no thrusting.

Osteopathic medicine combines the knowledge of a fully licensed physician (DO) with hands-on techniques designed to ease discomfort and support the body’s natural ability to move and function. Many of our Houston patients describe feeling more mobile and energized after sessions.

This is variable depending upon what is being treated and how extensive your treatment needs to be.  Our goal is to bring you to optimal health so that you won’t need to continually return.

According to the AOA, in 2013, 22,176 (36.9%) went into family medicine, 1,134 (1.9%) went into NMM/OMM and family medicine specialties who stress OMT in their practice, 20 (.025%) are Neuromusculoskeletal Med/OMM physicians in Texas. Out of these 20 they will either become a practitioner, consultant, professor, or researcher. 1 of them has a private practice dedicated to only OMM/NMM in Houston who loves working with new families.

9 Years.

Physicians are required to be licensed to practice medicine in the U.S. by the licensing board in each state they wish to practice.

A board certified physician has completed an additional training program in a specialty and has passed a rigorous exam to assess his or her knowledge, skills and experience to provide quality patient care in that specialty.

In my case, I am licensed to practice medicine in Texas, and I have two board certifications. The first one is Family Medicine and the second one is Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine/Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine.

The first visit is an hour long, during which I take an extensive history to understand your unique situation. Then the rest of the time is spent performing osteopathic manipulative treatment. It is best if you wear loose, comfortable clothing for your treatments. Follow-up visits are half an hour.

Osteopathic care at our Houston clinic focuses on non-pharmacological, hands-on approaches. While Dr. Banik is a licensed physician who understands when medication or surgery may be necessary, her clinic emphasizes natural techniques that may reduce reliance on prescriptions or invasive procedures.

The primary differences between an Osteopathic physician and a chiropractor are their levels of training and the scope of their practice. A chiropractor is not a licensed physician and has not completed residency training in a hospital. The scope of chiropractic practice is defined by statute as “including the diagnosing and locating of misaligned or displaced vertebrae and, through manual manipulation and adjustment of the spine and other skeletal structures, treating disorders of the human body. The practice of chiropractic does not include the use of drugs or surgery, or the practice of osteopathy, obstetrics, or any other branch of medicine”.

Chiropractic is primarily concerned with normalizing the alignment of the spine to influence the relationship between the spinal column and the nervous system. Although their techniques have expanded somewhat in recent years to include more gentle techniques, the vast majority of chiropractic adjustments are still of the thrust variety, which you know as “popping and cracking.”

Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine is based upon the principle that the human body possesses self healing/self regulating mechanisms that are the source of true healing. For example, when you get cut, the wound doesn’t just stay open. The body heals itself over a period of days. The Osteopath is trained to discover the treatment plan that these self-healing forces have already designed, in that moment, specifically for that patient. The focus in treatment, therefore, goes beyond simple spinal alignment, to dealing directly with the abnormal body physiology using an array of direct and indirect techniques. This more holistic healthcare perspective, affords the Osteopath a broader spectrum of therapeutic options in addition to thrust techniques that chiropractors use.

YES!! Not as frequently as I would like because I need to travel to see my osteopathic mentor.

While every patient is different, studies have shown pregnant women treated with OMT experienced:

• Decreased low back pain
• Decreased sacroiliac dysfunction (which is a contributor to low back pain and can cause difficulties during the birthing process)
• Decreased carpal tunnel syndrome (you have more blood volume in your system during pregnancy, and this increased fluid can cause pressure in your wrists leading to carpal tunnel syndrome)
• Decreased fluid overload (which means decreased swelling in your feet)
• Decreased blood pressure (which is important because high blood pressure can cause complications during your pregnancy that lead to induction or emergency c-sections)
• Decreased likelihood of a having a preterm delivery
• Decreased duration of labor
• Decreased use of forceps during delivery
• Decreased probability of having meconium-stained amniotic fluid (meconium is your baby’s first poop. When the baby is stressed in the womb, they can sometimes poop in the womb, which is NOT something you want your baby inhaling on its first breath)

While every patient is different, studies have shown newborn children treated with OMT experienced:

• Improved breast-feeding
• Reduction in infantile colic (inconsolable crying)
• Reduction in plagiocephaly (flat spots on baby’s heads, which are more common these days with baby’s being advised to only sleep on their backs)
• Reduction in otitis media (middle ear infections)
• Reduction in torticolis (where the baby’s head prefers to look in one direction only)
• Improved asthma symptoms
• Improved postural symmetry in infants

Yes, I provide a superbill at the end of your visit, which you can then file with your insurance company as an out-of-network provider. After you have met your out-of-network deductible, your insurance company will reimburse you at the rates according to your specific plan.

I like to look at it this way. In most cases when you go to the doctor, you pay your copay at the time of your visit, and then several months later, you get a bill to pay because no insurance company covers everything. In coming to see me, you pay for everything up front, and then you can get reimbursed, and you’ll end up paying about the same amount as if you combined your copay and the bill you’d receive later.

The American Osteopathic Association, also known as the AOA, has a wonderful explanation on their website. You are more than just the sum of your body parts. That’s why DOs practice a “whole person” approach to health care. Instead of just treating your specific symptoms, osteopathic physicians concentrate on treating you as a whole.

The curriculum at osteopathic medical schools consists of four years of academic study. Reflecting osteopathic philosophy, the curriculum emphasizes preventive medicine and comprehensive patient care. Throughout the curriculum, osteopathic medical students learn to use osteopathic principles and osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT for short) to diagnose illness and treat patients with their hands. Osteopathic physicians understand how all the body’s systems are interconnected and how each one affects the others. This special training in the musculoskeletal system allows them to better understand how that system influences the condition of all other body systems. Being able to identify conditions and treat them using OMT encourages your body’s natural tendency toward health and self-healing.

Currently there are more than 80,000 DO’s in the United States.

The short answer is No. You will need to ask your physician if they use this, or you can look them up in the AOA website www.osteopathic.org

When people speak of manual medicine, a lot of them think of only musculoskeletal problems like neck pain, back pain, knee pain, and other joint pains. There are many other medical applications for OMT, some of which include headaches, sinus infections, ear infections, pneumonia, asthma, reflux, constipation, and even assisting your body to recover after surgery.

DOs and MDs are alike in many ways:

Students entering both DO and MD medical colleges typically have already completed four-year bachelor’s degrees with an emphasis on scientific courses.
Both DOs and MDs complete four years of basic medical education. At the end of this you are technically a doctor.

After medical school, both DOs and MDs obtain graduate medical education through internships, residencies and fellowships. This training lasts three to eight years and prepares DOs and MDs to practice a specialty.

Both DOs and MDs can choose to practice in any specialty of medicine—such as pediatrics, family medicine, psychiatry, surgery or ophthalmology, to name a few.
DOs and MDs must pass comparable examinations to obtain state licenses.
DOs and MDs both practice in accredited and licensed health care facilities.
Together, DOs and MDs enhance the state of health care available in the U.S.

D.O. stands for doctor of osteopathic medicine. DOs are complete physicians, fully trained and licensed to prescribe medicine and to perform surgery, as well as enter any other medical specialty.

Yes. Sometimes people have a treatment reaction where they feel some soreness for a day or two afterwards. The best way to deal with this is to make sure you drink plentiful fluids to flush out any toxins that were released during treatment. Sitting in an Epson salt bath also helps reduce the treatment reaction. Not everybody has a treatment reaction; it just depends upon how your body reacts.

The first visit is an hour long, during which I take an extensive history to understand your unique situation and then the rest of the time is spent performing osteopathic manipulative treatment. It is best if you wear loose, comfortable clothing for your treatments. Follow- up visits are half an hour.

This is different from the usual office visit when you go to the doctor. Let me give a story, My husband recently went into a doctor’s appointment and showed up on time, as he is busy. After waiting for 40 minutes he was finally brought back into an exam room, where he was now clearly upset. Then an additional twenty minutes went by where he waited impatiently and had to reschedule a work call. When the doctor did arrive in the room, they spent a grand total of five minutes speaking to him, typed on the computer for five more, handed a prescription to him, and then left. This is in large part due to the current volume-based business model driven by the insurance companies who reimburse the physicians. My husband and I do not believe that quality healthcare can be provided in five or ten minutes. In my opinion this is not the physician’s fault. They typically come out of training with an average of ¼ million dollars in debt that has to be paid back, and they are bound by how insurance companies reimburse them. When removing the insurance company from the equation, I now have the ability to spend a full hour with new patients and thirty minutes on follow ups. I have chosen my current practice model to allow me the time I feel is necessary to deliver quality care to my patients. This means I can see a maximum of 8 new patients per day.

You can choose to do both. You can also choose to do neither. The helmet can reshape the head (not treat torticollis), and PT can stretch the neck muscles. However, neither the helmet nor PT addresses the root causes of plagiocephaly and torticollis. Osteopathic treatment aims to get to the bottom of why plagiocephaly and torticollis happened in the first place, without making you feel guilty or judged, and you can spend less time juggling appointments.

The helmet puts pressure on one part of the head and leaves space for the other part of the head to grow into. Each bone of the skull grows from the center called an ossification center. Helmets, when they’re holding parts of the skull still, can create strains in the individual bones as they’re growing out from the ossification center. Osteopathic treatment avoids creating strains in the bones. Most importantly, osteopathic treatment addresses the root cause of why the head became misshapen in the first place, something the helmet does not do, as well as reshapes the head. The head is a continuum, and osteopathic treatment can also address changes in facial asymmetries, like when one eye is smaller or cheek is bigger or ears are misaligned.

Yes, osteopathic treatment is safe for neonates and children as they grow older. I like to show parents on their hands the type of pressure I would use on their babies to reassure them treatment will not hurt their baby.

The three common things babies experience after treatment are they might poop (because the nerves going to their colon are freed up), they might be hungry/thirsty, and they might be sleepy. Many parents report that their babies slept really well after treatment.

Every child is different. What they present with is unique and the severity can differ from person to person. All these things will determine how quickly the body responds to treatment. I take pictures before and after each treatment. The first set is taken as a baseline. The following pictures are taken to show progress, and the further we go with treatment, the more changes can be seen. Another reason for pictures is when you’re with your baby everyday, it’s harder to see subtle differences. Pictures taken at the visits can be reassuring to parents. Treatment can take several weeks to months, depending on severity.

No referral is required. Many families are referred by their pediatrician, lactation consultant, craniosacral therapist, physical therapist, or find me online, looking for alternatives to the helmet.

I practice osteopathy in the cranial field (OCF), which is where CST originated from. OCF is taught as part of my physician training and board certification in neuromusculoskeletal medicine/osteopathic manipulative medicine (NMM/OMM). I have great relationships with many CST providers who also refer to me.

Standard guidance emphasizes repositioning, physical therapy for torticollis, and helmets for select cases. There are relatively few physicians who focus on osteopathic treatment for babies, and therefore, it is less well-known.

Once neck motion is symmetric and constant pressure is off the flat spot, improvements generally hold as the skull and child grow. I have never had to reshape the head again after treatment was complete. There have been instances when parents have noticed a child’s head tilt come back during growth spurts, and we are able to treat the torticollis during those times.

There are no guarantees in medicine. Physicians are also prohibited by the state medical board from making such claims. Anyone type of provider who guarantees a result, you should think twice and run the other way. The promise I CAN make to you is I will do my best to help your baby and treat them as if they were my own.

The soft spots of the head come together around 12 months old, but the bones of the head never fuse, even as an adult. A fused bone has a straight line. The sutures of the skull are jagged because there is always tiny motion, which can be seen as motion artifact on an MRI. Treatment for reshaping the head should be done during the window of time that the soft spots are open because of the degree of motion available. After 12 months, very small, incremental changes can happen up to 15-18 months old.

Osteopathic treatment can help with latching difficulties/pain, colic/fussiness/gassiness, reflux/arching back, torticollis and laying in a c-shape, blocked tear ducts/goopy eyes, constipation, and sleep. Oftentimes, these challenges are related and coming from the compressive forces of delivery. Osteopathic treatment aims to free up the root causes.

When performed by a physician trained in infant care, osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) is gentle and generally well-tolerated. I don’t use high-velocity thrusts on babies, ever. Published neonatal and infant series report good tolerance; we have never had any patient (or parent) who thought their child was in harm’s way.

Nothing I can think of, except maybe yourself.  

When you board an airplane, they always walk through the same story: in case of an emergency, put the mask on yourself first and then your child.  My patients, just like me, are typically working on self care, and are now in a place where they want to do everything they can to help their babies. 

Hi, Payel Banik, DO here, dually board certified physician, and a two time guest on the Whole Mother radio show.

I am in the enviable position of my peers for having a private practice where I can spend a full hour with new patients, and thirty minute follow-ups  every day to provide proactive holistic healthcare.  Every week I treat many newborns and children and hear about the joys of parenthood.  Quite frequently, parents and other physicians never knew viable evidenced based holistic manual medicine existed to treat infants.

As an osteopathic physician and a parent I have seen a lot when it comes to treating and handling our most precious gifts in this world: our children.

Not very long ago, many of our patients were in the same place you may be right now. They had no idea where to start finding credible holistic care, maybe even felt skeptical, overwhelmed by options that promised the moon, and were looking for viable natural alternatives. 

How many of us have felt sold a bag of goods searching for what we believe is in the best interest for our children?  We sometimes hear heartbreaking stories and am proud to be a beacon of hope.

Typical searches might start with something like this:

• “I am obsessing over my child’s head because I feel  embarrassed of people staring.”
• “I want to make sure glasses and sports helmets will fit on my child’s head when they grow up.”
• “I’m afraid my daughter won’t be able to put her hair up in a ponytail”
• “I am frustrated that my baby can’t suck or latch on the breast well and I have tried a lot of different things.”
• “I feel like a failure as a mommy with my child’s flat head.”
• “I feel like it’s my fault my baby’s  head shape is like this because I held him/her  a certain way”
• “I am worried the head tilt/preference to look to one side will interfere with developmental milestones”
• “I always wondered if she was going to be able to be able to live a normal life and learn. I didn’t want her being left behind in school”
• “I have been looking for an alternative to the cranial helmet”
• “I am looking to find a holistic alternative to having my E.N.T. put tubes in my child’s ears for the continual ear infections ”

“My baby just seems really uncomfortable and fussy”

I invite you to learn more about the different conditions we can assist newborns and children with by using just our hands. For the skeptics, feel free to look at the published peer reviewed journal articles documenting the scientific details. I want you to be educated and have cross referenced all my claims on this website for your ease.

Here at Osteopathic Healing Hands, Dr Payel Banik uses her specialized training to improve the health and well-being of her pediatric patients. As an osteopathic doctor, she encompasses a complete system of health care that can transform her young patients as a whole person. 

Osteopathic manipulative therapy (OMT) entails a very practical and hands-on approach towards improving the physical health of your infants. Gentle pressure is applied to your child’s muscle and joints with an aim of balancing the body’s structure. This aids in increasing circulation, relieving inflammation, and facilitating the body’s ability to naturally heal itself. OMT helps the systems of the body function together to treat and prevent injury, illness, and further health issues.

OMT can treat a huge range of pediatric conditions to relieve your baby such as discomfort and ongoing pain. These special treatments focus primarily on supporting and balancing your child’s nervous and musculoskeletal systems. The neuromuscular system plays a very important role in keeping the rest of your infant’s body systems in balance. Changes, abnormalities, or dysfunction of the musculoskeletal system can have a huge impact on other organs and systems of your baby’s body.

While every patient is different, studies have shown newborn children treated with OMT experienced:

• Reduction in plagiocephaly (flat spots on baby’s heads, which are more common these days with baby’s being advised to only sleep on their backs) – osteopathic manipulative treatment for flat head in baby’s has proven very effective with extremely noticeable results. 
• Reduction in torticolis (where the baby’s head prefers to look in one direction only).
• Improved breast-feeding.
• Reduction in infantile colic (inconsolable crying).
• Reduction in otitis media (middle ear infections).
• Reduction in reflux
• Improved asthma symptoms.
• Improved postural symmetry in infants.

For a list of articles supporting OMT, please click here.

OMT can still benefit your child or infant, even if they aren’t experiencing any health issues or illness at the present time. Osteopathic manipulative treatments can include supportive therapy which can aid with your child’s growth and development. For example, OMT can help in supporting your child’s muscles and coordination as they learn to walk. It can also help in easing teething pain or growing pain that happen during growth spurts. 

Our experienced team here at Osteopathic Healing Hands are dedicated to compassionate care for patients of all ages. For the very best in osteopathic pediatric care, or if you have any further questions, get in touch with one of our highly skilled team members. Give us a call on (713) 527-8499 to get started today.

Loose-fitting clothing or gym clothes

1. You thought it would go away on it’s own – but it didn’t
2. You are looking for credible healthcare alternatives – but just don’t know what is out there
3. You tried other healthcare professionals in the past, but nothing they said or did seemed to help

If any of these have happened to you – we would love to help you.

Download the guide to get some solid advice. Our goal is to help you make the right decision about what to do next.

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Most mothers I meet prioritize everything else above their own needs, hoping their problems will just get better on their own. But the truth is, without action, we secretly know change will not happen. We, as mothers, feel guilty when putting ourselves first.  

But is putting yourself first really that selfish? I understand first hand how difficult it can be to ask for help. Many of my pregnant patients feel this way too. I have found that when I am better taking care of myself, I am better able to care for others. I have so many moms who bring me their child first and tell me, “I wish I knew about you when I was pregnant.” YOU are important. You DESERVE to have your needs addressed too!

My personal experiences as a mom and osteopathic physician are why I love providing help and hope, supporting you through YOUR story during these emotional times. Your journey and obstacles are understood and accepted. Imagine if life were different and you were able to get back to what you love?  

In fact, we often see women years later who are still suffering with problems that started during pregnancy or shortly after. So, if you recently gave birth (or are still pregnant), I encourage you to start thinking about addressing the problems that are keeping you from long term health and happiness.

The most common misunderstanding we hear from women is thinking many common pains need to be tolerated during and after pregnancy and that’s why . . .

Imagine yourself as a happy, healthy, vibrant woman with energy for your family, feeling incredible in your body and confident in the life you are creating.  

Now imagine, the alarm clock goes off at 5:30 AM Monday and you are off to spin classes or yoga at 6 AM so you can be ready for work at 8 AM..  

At 20 weeks, you are finally at a point where it doesn’t hurt to walk for too long and you can get up from sitting, despite feeling his head very low. Just last week you started walking on your lunch break everyday. You can walk correctly, and even when you switch positions at night or open your legs a little, it doesn’t hurt.

So many changes happen during pregnancy. If you imagine the uterus as a hot-air balloon, the ropes supporting the balloon are your round ligaments, and round ligament pain is from sudden pulls as you’re turning over in bed or making sudden movements. 

Different types of pain can be experienced as the belly grows, changing your center of gravity, meaning your back muscles are put into more strain. The growing uterus also pushes up your abdominal contents, which can lead to heartburn. The hormone relaxin that helps prepare your body for delivery also loosens ligaments in your back, pelvis, and your feet, which can lead to pubic symphysis pain, low back pain, and feet pain (not to mention your shoe size getting bigger during pregnancy). Tension in your back and buttocks can press on the sciatic nerve, which can cause pain down your leg. 

As your body increases it’s blood volume to supply nourishment to your baby, the extra fluid can press on a nerve at your wrists and lead to carpal tunnel syndrome or lead to swelling in your feet and hands (maybe you can’t wear your wedding ring anymore). Postpartum, your pelvis has gone through an incredible transformation, whether you delivered vaginally or via c-section. 

The good news is that osteopathic manipulative treatment (pregnancy OMT) can help address all of these changes and make pregnancy and the post-partum period a much more pleasant experience. It’s not something you just “have to live with” because you’re pregnant!

There’s something magical about helping a pregnant woman through such a joyous and tremulous time. Nothing should take away from that joy, especially the physical symptoms that can leave a glowing pregnant woman in constant pain. 

Having done many deliveries in medical school and residency, it was so exciting to lay a newborn onto a mom’s belly. But I also found that all my medical training didn’t prepare me to actually experience the roller coaster of trying to get pregnant and having to do IVF (fertility treatment), feel the devastation of having miscarriages, the challenges of various pregnancy pains, and the postpartum “4th trimester.”  

Being a mom is the hardest thing I have ever done! Pregnancy Brain, Mom Brain, and Mom Guilt are real! My personal experiences have given me a greater understanding of mom-hood and made me feel closer than ever to women trying to get pregnant, are pregnant, and are in the postpartum period. I feel elated when I can support you through your journey towards a happier and healthier pregnancy.

Read more about Dr. Banik

Feel a catch and sudden sharp pain in your pelvis when turning over in bed?  Are your back and ribs aching and you just want someone to press into them?  Experiencing sciatica?  Is heartburn driving you nuts?  Feeling numbness in your fingers?

Experiencing this type of pain during pregnancy can feel completely debilitating and cast a grey cloud over this joyous period of time. This is why I provide holistic pregnancy pain relief to women wanting a natural solution towards feeling support and comfort in their pregnant bodies. 

What if you could finally start walking, sleeping, sitting down, or even get back to work or exercising? Address the pain to stop bawling at 3 AM so you can finally sleep, and have someone understand you. Don’t have regrets thinking you didn’t try everything possible.  Don’t’ wonder “what if I would have tried something else?”  

OMT uses gentle, physician-applied techniques tailored to each stage of pregnancy. Many Houston patients share they feel more mobile, experience fewer aches, and rest more comfortably after sessions. Results vary, and Dr. Payel Banik, DO, will customize care based on your health history and goals.

As your center of gravity shifts, your back and hip muscles take on extra work. The hormone relaxin also loosens ligaments in the back and pelvis to prepare for delivery—which may contribute to pubic symphysis discomfort and low-back pain. Our physician-led, hands-on care aims to reduce strain patterns and support easier movement.

Imagine your uterus like a hot-air balloon. The “ropes” that help suspend it are your round ligaments. Sudden position changes (rolling in bed, standing quickly) can “tug” on these ligaments and create brief, sharp pain. Gentle osteopathic techniques are designed to ease surrounding tension, and many patients report fewer jolts as their bodies adapt.

Yes. Dr. Banik offers specialized cranial osteopathy for infants and gentle, supportive care during pregnancy and postpartum. Parents often share that their babies feed, sleep, or settle more easily after sessions, and expectant mothers describe feeling less tension as their bodies adapt.

You can always call my office at (713) 527-8499 or contact me through my website at info@osteopathichealinghands.com